Italian street painting will return to San Rafael, donations needed for event

After a two-year hiatus, artists from all over the world will once again descend on downtown San Rafael in June to show off their Italian street-painting skills.

"It's good for the city and it brings people downtown," Mayor Gary Phillips said. "The artwork is staggering."

The Youth in Arts Italian Street Painting Festival was held for 17 years in San Rafael until 2011, when the nonprofit arts organization cancelled the event due to a lack of funding. The original founders of the festival — Mill Valley residents Joe and Sue Carlomagno — are reinstituting the event this year and rebranding it as Italian Street Painting Marin.

"We had to start literally from scratch," Sue Carlomagno said. "It's a major production to put it on."

She said the event will be similar to the festivals of yore, with artists using chalk to draw incredibly detailed, smooth pictures on asphalt. One of the key changes is the formerly free event will now charge a $5 admission fee.

"If we don't generate more income for this event, it's not going to survive," Carlomagno said.

She said the June 29-30 event on Fifth Avenue and A Street costs about $240,000 to put on. The coordinators still need about $120,000 and donations of food and goods to make this year's event happen.

Phillips said the city used to be able to help fund the event with redevelopment agency funds, but that was before the agencies were dissolved by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011. He said about $20,000 from the Target settlement escrow fund established last year, monitored by the Downtown San Rafael Business Improvement District, will be donated to the event.

He said he hopes more people will step up to help get the event off the ground.

"I hope that we can have the event again (continuing after this year) and rekindle support," Phillips said.

Carlomagno said donations to the event are tax-deductible as the event is fiscally sponsored by the nonprofit Novato-based EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases.

While stage equipment and sound systems will likely have to be purchased, she said donations of goods and people's time are still needed.

"We're looking for everything from nice high-end Porta-Potties to food donors. We're still looking for pastries, cookies and wine sponsors," she said.

About 85 street painters — some from Italy and Mexico — are scheduled to show off their skills as part of the event, including chalk artists Tracy Lee Stum, Arnold Shimizu, Jay Schwartz, Genna Panzarella and Joel Yao.

Carlomagno said she first became interested in street painting in the early 1990s when she learned about a similar event in Santa Barbara. After starting the event as president of the Youth in Arts group in 1994, she took American chalk artists to Italy in 1999 to see the original street painting festival.

"The artists were fascinated with it and festivals started all over the world," she said.